Joseph Conrad’s reluctant raconteurs

Abstract

A commonality among so many of Conrad’s narrators is their reluctance to reveal important information regarding the stories they tell. These narrators delay, obscure, or withhold, sometimes partly and sometimes entirely, crucial components to the tales they tell. This essay investigates why these narrators behave as they do. In some instances (as in Falk), the narrator looks to recreate in his listeners (and the reader) his bewilderment as to Falk’s refusal to tow his ship and later to Falk’s “misfortune,” as Falk terms it. In other instances, such as Typhoon and Suspense, the narrator requires the reader to supply the missing information. On the other hand, in Nostromo, for example, the third-person narrator, despite knowing so very much, regularly relies on legend, hearsay, and other similar sources in narrating the novel, thereby questioning the idea of absolute knowledge, positing instead a contingent knowledge.